The Estates
Welcome to The Estates, I’m Knot.
Well, KnotAnArtist, or Jaden, but let’s stick with Knot. My professional background is mixed and varied. During my first year of University in 2011, 3 friends and I started the Bitcoin exchange TradeHill, which, for a time, was the second biggest Bitcoin exchange in the world. I have always stayed involved and engaged in the crypto community, and when NFTs started to gain popularity I followed their progression as well. Seeing the familiar trend NFTs are following in relation to the early days of Bitcoin, I firmly believe they are going to play a big part in our future and are at only a fraction of their potential market-cap.
Full Work History can be found here.
I realized very early on that the largest companies were hosting official Metaverse events in 100m x 100m square boxes — and I knew we could do better so we did on November 30, 2021. Here, at The Estates, we are looking to push the boundaries of utility that can be provided by an NFT, not 6 months or 2 years down the track, but beginning at launch. That is why we have been building, in multiple senses of the word, for over 6 months now.
The whole team is fully doxed internally, some key members are doxed publicly also. Our goal here is simple: we want to give our Homeowners a Sense of Space in the Metaverse; a home, an office, a gallery, or a party pad. We don’t want to just spectate in the Metaverse, we’re here to Build.
This Medium is designed to be a 14-minute read.
Project Details
Name: The Estates
Genesis Collection Size: Staggered release of 2,222 (ERC-721) NFT’s and 4 themes, totalling 8,888 final size. Includes a deflationary burn-to-Upgrade mechanic, burning supply to a minimum of 1,250.
Legendary Assets: 24 (6 per theme)
Mint Date (SOLD OUT): Aug 6th at 23:00 UTC
Introduction
The Estates are a collection of architecturally designed, interoperable, next-gen metaverse-compatible boutique house NFTs, where every NFT has an accompanying 3D file with full interoperability across all metaverses, virtual, and augmented reality environments. The project consists of four core pillars:
- Metaverse, VR and AR compatible 3D Estate files with real application
- Renovating and Upgrading of Estates
- Staking for $EQUITY token generation
- Web3 readiness, interoperability and future-proofing
Mission Statement
The Estates aims to bring a sense of place to Web3, and is the first curated open-marketplace for real estate in the metaverse.
Some may see their Estate as a home, others as an office, maybe a personal gallery or party-house. We see each Estate as a space that is forever adapting and changing as Web3 evolves and grows, meeting the needs of metaverses both already established, and yet to be created.
In a space where so many projects feel rushed, so many promises fall short, and the common theme seems to be “over promise, under deliver”, we want to be the opposite.
The NFT Itself
The Estate NFT will consist of multiple parts. There is the high-quality rendered, orthographic view of the 3D model, which will serve as the “display picture” .png when The Estates NFT is viewed on OpenSea, LooksRare, etc., or as part of the collection or a personal wallet.
The NFT itself will be a .glb file, showing a fully 360-degree rotating 3D model of The Estate in all of its glory, showcasing the full Estate, Garden, front yard, back yard, all walls, everything. This is to show the full extent of the 3D asset and Estate NFT, not just a constrained orthographic render where the rest is left up to the imagination.
In addition, there are the 3D models of your Estate, or “Blueprints”, that can be downloaded by signing in with your wallet on The Estates website, and then uploaded to any compatible metaverse, VR and/or AR environment. More information about Blueprints will be included later in this document.
Externals
Externals are assets that must always occur in every Estate, things like walls, doors, windows, the roof, etc. Externals are for rarity, form, and individualism.
The goals here are to have externals that are diverse enough to give every Estate its own uniqueness and feel, while still fitting within the constraints of a collection.
As with any collection, having a true rarity scale is very important, and this is no different with The Estates. For this reason, there are assets and textures for each component of the externals with a different rarity. The difference here is that the rarity of these assets may also have real applications to the use case of the 3D model. For example, a higher roof will not only be rarer but will also give a taller 3D model with actually higher internal ceilings.
Form is very important, which is why each of the styles has been painstakingly crafted to be true to the architectural styles of the cultures that they represent. Of course, liberties had to be taken in this manner to ensure that an achievable outcome was possible, however, nothing is by accident and each Estate’s assets contain elements that are true to their place of origin.
Individualism will become especially pronounced as the Estate is Renovated and Upgraded. Choosing which styles to combine and which assets to promote will give the Homeowner the opportunity to truly express themselves and their style.
Gardens
Garden assets are those that give additional flavor to each Estate. Gardens are for rarity, future assets, and diversity.
Most assets in the Garden will be quite rare and not have any similar assets. What this means is, that either you have it, or you don’t. This will give two Estates with similar external assets elements that will differentiate them.
In addition, as each Estate increases in level, the size of the Estate will also increase, both horizontally and vertically (more details on upgrading later). To allow for more assets to be included in later levels, Garden assets may be “repurposed” in later levels as a completely new, never-before-seen asset. Our recommendation? Pay close attention to the rarity of the Garden assets, there may be a reason why that silly little <redacted> is so rare…
Internals
Internals are the layout on the inside of each Estate. Internals are for function, fun, and flex.
At the core of this project is a level of functionality that has not been seen in the NFT space. For this reason, the Externals and Gardens were seen as having form exceeding function, however, it was deemed appropriate that the internals should have a level of function to actually give an Estate real applications.
The desire to give Homeowners at the time of an Upgrade the ability to select which internal they desire, and then the ability to have multiple internals by Renovating, was intentional. If you, the Homeowner, are going to the expense of Upgrading your Estate, the internals should at least serve the purpose that you wish. This is to avoid the disappointment that may occur if the Homeowner really wanted an internal for a very specific purpose, but due to a roll of the dice when Upgrading, missed out and now has to Renovate. Renovating should ALWAYS be to display assets in your style and favor, not because you simply were unlucky and the Internal you received was not fit for your purpose. For this reason, three primary styles are being targeted in the roadmap for interiors:
- Party/Group Setting
- Metaverse/VR Functional
- Authentic
Upgrading
Upgrading your Estate is taking an Estate to the next level, with more assets on display, a bigger floorplan, greater $EQUITY generation, and increased rarity. To achieve this, you will need 2 Estates of the same level, as well as the requisite amount of $EQUITY to Upgrade. The Upgrading process will then burn and demolish these two Estate NFTs, along with the requisite $EQUITY, and immediately airdrop you a next-level NFT, which, when created by The Estates team, will allow you to refresh your metadata to reveal your next level Estate NFT Render and Blueprint.
Your Upgraded Estate will be bigger, grander and more diverse than before. Assets displayed will be chosen based on highest rarity from the two lower-level Estate NFTs. In the case of two assets being of the same rarity, the trait that will be displayed will be random. In addition, all non-displayed traits will still be attached to your new, higher-level, Estate NFT and can be selected for display by Renovating, more below.
In addition, there will be many hidden traits that will only reveal themselves at higher levels. Wondering what the purpose of that random item is in your garden? Just wait and see, nothing is by chance in this project…
Combining <redacted>
<redacted>
Script Development
The Estates have been building behind the scenes since mid-December. Part of what makes the Estates different is that they are not built in a vacuum.
The Estates NFTs are built using a highly complex, fully developed Grasshopper script that takes a series of assets as the input, applies textures to them, randomizes how they are combined based on a rarity scale, and then produces a fully-wrapped 3D file and render as the output. What this means is that by simply modifying the input assets and the 3D output filetype, The Estates can integrate with any currently existing or future metaverse based on poly-count, format or otherwise. This also applies to integration in virtual and augmented reality environments.
There are more than 4 billion possible combinations of assets per theme. So yes, every Estate will be uniquely different.
Future Proofing
Innovation is at the heart of The Estates. High-poly, low-poly and voxel variants, to meet the requirements of a host of metaverses, will be made available via the marketplace to Homeowners, purchasable with $EQUITY.
Currently, the “Baseline” output model, produced by the Grasshopper script, is a mid-poly .glb file, which natively integrates with a host of environments. This will allow for rapid modification for low-poly and high-poly variants to integrate with most (if not all) of everyone’s current favorite metaverses.
Environments currently targeted include: The Otherside, Cornerstone, Decentraland, The Sandbox*, NFT Worlds*, NetVRk, Frogland, Somnium Space, Meta, Mozilla Spoke, Unity, Unreal Engine 4, Unreal Engine 5, Oculus Quest 2, HTC Vive, Android, Windows and iOS.
*Requires alternate output file-type and independent development of assets
Blueprint File Repository
At any time, a Homeowner of an Estate NFT can access their ‘Blueprints’ by signing in with their wallet to www.theestates.io. Here, they will be provided with temporary download links to all of their 3D models, for easy access, download, and then upload to a metaverse of their choice with just a few clicks.
In addition, the Blueprints follow the NFT, not the Homeowner. What this means is, if an Estate NFT is sold, every Blueprint associated with that Estate NFT moves with it. This means that no investment in Renovations or Upgrades is ever lost. Just like IRL, this ensures that the value associated with a well-loved, frequently Renovated Estate will not be lost upon sale, but rather will add additional value!
Themes in Reveal Order
Theme 01: China
Theme 02: Modernist
Theme 03: Japan
Theme 04: <redacted>
Metaverse Ready 3D Model
Attached to every Estate NFT at mint will be a Metaverse ready 3D model, initially in .glb format, that is fully compatible from day 1 with most metaverses. The reasoning for this file format is that it is the most general ‘standard’ that is accepted across a broad spectrum of metaverses and is relatively light to work with.
$EQUITY
$EQUITY will be the token and currency of The Estates. The only way to obtain $EQUITY is to actively stake an Estate. $EQUITY opens up a host of exciting possibilities for an Estate holder.
Generating $EQUITY
$EQUITY will be generated in a non-linear fashion, with each subsequent Upgrade receiving >2x the previous level (remembering that it takes 2 previous level Estate NFTs to be Demolished, Fused and Upgraded).
The Shopping Mall
The Shopping Mall is a first-of-its-kind Marketplace. WLs for emerging projects, Upgrades to your Estates, internal asset layouts, and individual assets will be on display and available for purchase with $EQUITY, directly from showrooms in a host of virtual stores.
Development of the Shopping Mall will continue throughout the life of the project, with the addition of a 3D environment, VR and AR integration and in world purchasing.
Internal Layouts and Staging for Estates
The ability to design the layout of your home has been a wildly popular feature of games including The Sims, Second Life, Minecraft, Roblox and countless others. Having the ability to fully customize the interiors of your Estates will allow you, the Homeowner, to spend as much time as you like trying out every layout possible until the staging is just right; or simply select one of the pre-designed full layouts available, tweaking from there if necessary.
As described in the Renovations section previously, a range of internal layouts will be available for purchase at the Shopping Mall for $EQUITY. Once purchased, these layouts will be forever associated with the Estates NFT they were purchased for, and transferred with the sale of the NFT. This will not only allow the Homeowner to curate and stage the inside of their Estate to their liking, but also raise the value of the NFT should they ever choose to sell.
Project Driven Asset Marketplace
The Estates project will develop individual assets to supplement the internal layouts, sold for $EQUITY. The purpose of these assets will be to fill an ever-growing catalog of available assets to include inside your Estate, as well as limited edition, seasonal items that will only appear for a short time and be very rare.
Community Driven Asset Marketplace
The Shopping Mall will give the opportunity for digital artists within the community, to develop and sell assets for The Estates through our Community Driven Asset Marketplace. Any asset made will be put through a short curation process (to ensure that the asset meets the quality standards of The Estates, as well as is not overly offensive) before being put for sale in $EQUITY. The artist can set the supply and price, and will receive a fair % of all sales of their asset.
This will allow for the Community to lead the direction that they want assets to move in as well. Want banana peels for your apes? A sundae machine? Futuristic furniture? Goblin…stuff? Then make it and we will do everything we can to help you get it into as many Estates as possible!
Unique Assets for Collaborations and Partnerships
To show our appreciation to our Collaborations and Partnerships, The Estates will be developing exclusive assets only available to holders of collab/partner NFTs. These assets will be developed in conjunction with our partners, to ensure that these assets reflect the ethos, spirit and culture of each project.
Renovating
Renovating is a process whereby you exchange $EQUITY to modify or redecorate the internals and external assets of your Estate, producing a whole new additional Blueprint, attached to the original NFT.
External Renovation
External Renovations will be available from Lvl.2 Estates onwards. The Homeowner will be able to select which assets from the fused Estates they wish to display, not just the rarest only. This means that if you prefer a different layout, or texture, or Garden asset than what was displayed on your Upgraded Estate, you can choose to have that option displayed, all purchasable for a flat $EQUITY fee. Once complete, your Renovated Estate will be accessible as a downloadable 3D file from the Blueprints page, ready for metaverse integration.
Internal Renovation
Internal Renovation of an Estate is where the Homeowner is choosing to modify the internals of their Estate, create a new layout fit for purpose, and/or display their own NFT art inside their Estate.
If a Homeowner has a business meeting with colleagues on Monday, an art show for their NFTs on Wednesday, and wants to throw a crazy party on Friday, this is totally possible with 3 different Renovations showcasing different elements of their Estates NFT. Finding one internal layout that fits their needs and style can be achieved by fine-tuning their internal layout selection.
Metaverse Collaboration and Development
The Estates are the first open market for real estate in the metaverse. Post integration, The Estates are in preliminary talks with multiple existing, and emerging, metaverses, to redefine what “Home” can mean in Web3.
Collaboration Clubhouses
The Estates will work closely with its key Partner Projects to develop Clubhouses suited to their projects. A Clubhouse will be an Estate with a curated interior to fit the needs of the Partner Project.
A Clubhouse will give these Partner Projects immediate feasibility in the Metaverse, allowing them to take full advantage of the open-loop nature of Metaverse integration afforded by The Estates.
VR App & AR Phone App
Want to interact with your Estate IRL? We do too! The Estates were never meant to live in 2D, and preliminary tests have already revealed promising results when integrating The Estates 3D files with virtual and augmented reality environments.
Future development will include an AR app that is available on your phone, as well as integration with Oculus Quest 2 and HTC Vive VR headsets, so that you can enjoy your Estate anywhere, from a projection on your desk to a fully immersive 3D experience.
The Estates Merch & 3D Printing
Homeowners will have access to exclusive merch drops. The Estates are currently in talks with an established famous streetwear designer, watch this space!
Here at The Estates, we want your Estate to be accessible everywhere, and we mean everywhere! While we can’t build a full-sized Estate for you, we can facilitate a to-scale, highly detailed 3D printed model, mailed directly to your doorstep IRL.
The Showroom Community Driven Asset Marketplace
The Showroom will be an extension of the Shopping Mall, where curated community developed assets will be made available to Homeowners, purchasable with $EQUITY. These assets will fully integrate into the internals of your Estate, with the Community Creators taking a healthy cut of the royalties.
Future Collections & Development
Future collections are planned for The Estates. Homeowners will have priority access to presale spots for all future projects and collections. Themes for the 2nd collection will be <redacted>, additional features for Homeowners including <redacted> will become available and $EQUITY can be used to <redacted>.
This Medium article will be filled in and updated with new, more detailed information as The Estates team announces relative features via their Discord (closed) and Twitter.
